Scotty McCreery was just declared the 10th “American Idol” winner, but as the past two seasons’ Crystal Bowersox and Adam Lambert can tell you, winning isn’t everything. Both of those runners-up have sold more albums than the respective contestants who beat them, and I have a feeling this season’s runner-up, Lauren Alaina, will continue that pattern when she and Scotty release their albums later this year.

Why, do you ask? Read on.

1) Lauren May Get More Airplay – “Idol” fans loved Scotty, yes, but country radio staffers don’t seem to be quite as enthusiastic. Stark Radio recently reported that country radio broadcasters are already resistant to Scotty; WFRE’s Jess Wright even said, “If Scotty McCreery gets signed, I’m gonna need to change my phone number,” and KUZZ’s Toni-Marie quipped, “I’m calling in sick the day they bring Scotty by on the radio tour.” These same programmers also seemed to think Lauren has a good shot, with the right material and proper handling.

2)Lauren May Get Better Material – For her first single, Universal Records honcho Jimmy Iovine gave her “Like My Mother Does,” a catchy, heartstring-plucking ballad about a young girl’s admiration for her mom. Aw. Scotty, on the other hand, got the grammatically awkward “I Love You This Big,” with a silly chorus a boy might sing to his mom at age 5, not age 17. Were the “Idol” powers-that-be, who clearly wanted a girl winner this year, trying to sabotage him by giving him the weaker song? I don’t know–but I don’t think “I Love You This Big” did him any favors, and if he gets material like that for his first album, those above-mentioned radio programmers aren’t going to change their minds about him.

3) Lauren May Get More Label & Management Support – It’s been proven that if the “Idol” powers-that-be don’t get the winner they wanted, they’ll proceed with their original plans anyway. For instance, Taylor Hicks won Season 5, but all the 19 Entertainment marketing efforts that year went into making Chris Daughtry a star. Way more support was given to Adam Lambert than Kris Allen, and we all see how much effort the “Idol” machine put into launching Lee DeWyze’s career. On this week’s final showdown it was obvious how hard Lauren was pimped over Scotty, and while that attempt failed, that doesn’t mean Lauren won’t get a bigger marketing budget and bigger push later on.

4) Lauren Has More Crossover Potential – Let’s face it, most modern country music nowadays doesn’t sound very country at all, save for a bit of steel guitar buried in the mix and the teeniest hint of twang in the singer’s Pro-Tooled voice. I personally like the fact that Scotty doesn’t try to mix too much pop in his country, and keeps it old-school, hearkening back to the classic hat acts of yore. But Lauren’s poppier style does seem more in tune with today’s country scene. Those radio programmers’ comments cannot be discounted, nor can the fact that two of “Idol’s” most successful alums ever are Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. (Lauren has also been compared to that other mega-selling “Idol” lady, Kelly Clarkson.) Carrie and Lauren’s finale night duet almost seemed like a staged symbolic torch-passing, and Lauren later told reporters backstage that Carrie told her, “Wow, that was incredible. We should take that on the road!” So Lauren has the potential to become Underwood 2.0.

5) Girls Dominate The Charts – The biggest sellers right now are Adele, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Rihanna, and the like, and ladies rule the country charts, too (Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, the female-fronted Lady Antebellum, and of course, Carrie Underwood). Girls don’t tend to do too well on “Idol” anymore–we’ve had four male winners in a row now–but they sure do well in the real world.

Of course, this is no diss on Scotty; he is the superior performer of the two, a real showman, so he may pick up even more diehard (read: record-buying) fans as he headlines the Idols Live Tour this summer. But hopefully getting all the way to “Idol” finale gave Lauren a confidence boost, and the sassy girl we saw back in Nashville, the one who had the guts to challenge Steven Tyler to a “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” duet, will soon reemerge onstage and on record. On “Idol” Lauren sometimes seemed like a butterfly turning back into a caterpillar, as the pressure of competing got to her, but now it’s time for her to her to break out of her cocoon. So don’t rule out Lauren just yet.

Mike Fisher spent the first 11 years of his NHL career in the Canadian capital of Ottawa where the hometown Senators are scrutinized and second-guessed more than members of Parliament. But now that he’s married to country music star Carrie Underwood, it’s not just hockey fans paying attention to his every move.

Underwood, for instance, recently needled him on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” for gobbling up their closet space. “He’s not a hoarder but he’s close,” she said.

In an exclusive interview with ThePostGame.com, Fisher laughs and defends himself: “I’m not that big of a hoarder,” he says. “I do have lots of clothes. But she has me beat in the clothes department.”

Such is life when your wife’s star wattage is even bigger than your own. When the Senators traded Fisher to Nashville in February, the headline in The Tennessean said: “Predators acquire Carrie Underwood’s husband.”

Fisher doesn’t mind the second-fiddle status. “I’m used to it,” he says. “Being in Nashville, I can fly under the radar a bit more. It’s nice to be not recognized as much. Nobody really does, unless I’m with her, obviously. That has been good.”

The trade was a double perk for Fisher. He went from a last-place team to one in the thick of the playoff race, and he went to the city where he and Underwood had planned to settle long term. Underwood and Fisher, who were introduced to each other by a mutual friend, got married in July. But between her music commitments and his hockey schedule, they hadn’t spent much time together before the trade.

“To come from a team that’s been out of it since November to a contender was definitely great,” he says “This was the most frustrating season I’ve had, ever, until I got traded. I get to find out what married life is like and get to live with her. That was the biggest bonus for sure. It definitely simplified things — less travel, our schedule, being organized, stuff like that. That made the transition easy. I’m familiar with the city and have friends in Nashville too. That made it perfect.”

The hockey part of the equation has also worked out well. The Predators have been a perennial playoff team with six appearances in the past seven seasons, but they’ve yet to win a series. They’ve lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions in their past two appearances, including last year when they had the Blackhawks on the ropes.

Acquiring a center like Fisher, known for his playoff prowess, was a big part of their plan to finally turn that corner. The Predators paid a fairly steep price to Ottawa, giving up a 2011 first-round pick, plus a conditional pick in 2012 that can be as high as a second-rounder if Nashville wins more than one series this year. That cost, along with the $7 million owed to him in the next two seasons, placed significant pressure on him to deliver in the post-season.

“I try not to think about that,” Fisher says. “I just want to go out and play and contribute.”

So far, so good. The Predators are halfway toward winning their first playoff series, after beating the Ducks on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead. Fisher has been hot from the get-go. He had two goals and an assist in Game 1, a 4-1 win for the Preds in Anaheim, and another assist in Game 2.

Then in Game 3 at Nashville — with Underwood in the stands — Fisher picked up a fighting major against Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf in the second period, then bagged the winning goal midway through the third.

“It’s been an easy transition to fit in with this group of guys and the organization,” Fisher says. “It’s been definitely different playing in this kind of market. I’ve enjoyed maybe a little less media attention.”

But if he continues to click at this rate and lead the Predators to their first playoff series win, he figures to have more interviews heaped on his plate, and some of them might even focus 100 percent on pucks.